In The Studio With Haneef Raisani: True Believer

Think you can’t find quality house music deep in the heart of the Middle East? Then check out Raisani Records.

Based in Abu Dhabi in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates—an area more culturally liberal than many of its immediate neighbors—the label is the loving endeavor of a Haneef Raisani, a true believer in the genre.

A DJ for a dozen years, Raisani has operated the label and promoted events in the Middle East and beyond since 2003. The imprint has released tracks from talents like Raisani, Roland Clark, Jay Tripwire and Lenny Fontana. On the event side, Raisani has brought its parties to major European hubs like Ibiza, Amsterdam and Barcelona.

As the label kicked off its 2011 World Tour at Dubai’s Club Sanctuary, we connected with Raisani.

DJ Times: How did you come to starting your company?

Raisani: I was bored of the local promoters throwing parties with commercial DJs. Nobody was bringing quality house DJs, so I thought, “Why not me?” Since then, we have done some of the best deep-house parties in town and the brand Raisani—record label and events—was born when I threw my 23rd birthday party and got the Swiss DJ Aston Martinez to play the event. It was a great success and then I told to myself, “I can do this for a living—why not?”